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I’ve had insomnia for 15 months now, al be it I’ve had trouble sleeping most of my adult life. Trazadone was a life savor until it just stopped working. I tried for 6 months coming off it and going back on it thinking tolerance was my problem.
Fast forward, a new doc specialized in sleep disorders found nothing to explain insomnia other than I have a very high unexplainable amount of spontaneous wakings. Gave me remeron, hydroxyzine, lunesta, seroquel…none of these worked.
My husband doesn’t understand why I can’t sleep, he doesn’t understand the loneliness I have each night, how I’m suffering body/muscle aches, headaches all day, dementia like forgetfulness, inability to feel safe driving etc. He sees me awake and what may seem a functioning body, but it’s all but that.
I’m disabled at this point, what I can I do? I’ve got doctors who don’t invest in helping me find the cause and a husband that I think would really like me to disappear most days.
On the upside, I’m able to sleep 2.5 to 3 hours each evening but I awake at 9:00 – 10:00 pm and awake for the next 21 hours. I can not get in to my sleep doctor till Feb 1, there is that many people struggling to sleep keeping him booked 4-5 months in advance.
There’s help for you. Insomnia is an anxiety-related disorder and most sleep doctors don’t understand it or know how to treat it. There are two different types of therapy for this. One is CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) which Martin, the host of this website explains. The other is called ACT. To understand ACT, read The Sleep Book by Dr. Guy Meadows and/or go to his website. Some of us on the thread here, ACT for Insomnia, are using this method. My insomnia started in Oct 2018. I first tried CBT-I and made a lot of improvement. Then I changed to ACT and am now completely cured.
completely cured sounds amazing. I do not have anxiety I do believe I have a physical issue such as menopause, high night cortisol release or something.
I go from a low sleeping heart rate for example 52 and in 2 seconds knocked out sleep abruptly straight to heart rate of 85. It’s like my fight or flight response, hormonally related or something. Maybe even respiratory.
I don’t think I can be cured completely and I already bought the act book, which is very helpful. CBT-i did not work for me. Act allows some brief short naps which I need during the day and also encourage staying in bed which getting out of bed was only telling my body to stay awake. Anyhoo, I’ll go off and try to keep finding help somewhere else.
I am sorry to hear that a doctor who apparently specialized in sleep disorders only offered medication since that is not a long-term solution for chronic insomnia.
Chronic insomnia is explained by the perpetuating factors we engage in to try to improve our sleep that actually lead to sleep drive disruption, body clock disruption, and/or high levels of arousal.
Although daytime naps can feel great at the time, they reduce sleep drive and can make it more difficult to sleep at night (daytime naps are actually a perpetuating factor for insomnia since they disrupt sleep drive and the body clock).
When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed to start your day, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night?
Do you tend to have more difficulties with falling asleep at the start of the night, or staying asleep through the night (or both)?
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Clarity program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
“When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed to start your day, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night?”
I sleep on couch, the only way I can get sleep. I start sleep 6:30 to 7:00 pm, awake 9:00-10:00. the past two weeks unable to get back to sleep, but if I do my bio clock says 1:30-2:00 am.
“Do you tend to have more difficulties with falling asleep at the start of the night, or staying asleep through the night (or both)?”
No problems falling asleep this early, cannot even stay awake actually. its after a 3 hour nap that my entire night is chaotic and of course being an extreme early bird at 1:30 to 2:00 is when sleep ends for me anyways, circadian rhythm totally messed up.
I’m awake again tonight, this is 8 nights now, it’s worse than it’s ever been up to date. I have no choice but to cave in to and except I have sleep wake disorder as I can sleep 1 or 2 more times tomorrow and get enough sleep for survival which I have NOT been doing and I’m physically, mentally and emotionally spent, my husband cried tonight over this. I have to sleep any way I can starting tomorrow.
You said that you start sleep between 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM and wake at 9:00 to 10:00. Are you saying that you wake at 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM? In other words, you are allotting over 14 hours for sleep? Or, are you saying that you wake at 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM and are therefore only allotting around three hours for sleep?
Sleeping on the couch is probably not a good idea unless your long term goal is to only sleep on the couch. Furthermore, if the couch helped you sleep, then you probably wouldn’t be here posting in this forum!
In addition, you mentioned that you are taking three-hour naps during the day. This is another behavior that is making it hard for you to sleep at night.
It doesn’t sound as though you have a sleep/wake disorder to me. It sounds as though you have chronic insomnia and that you are struggling with sleep because of the exact same perpetuating factors that other people with chronic insomnia often implement in a bid to improve their sleep but actually make the problem worse.
You sound like an ideal candidate for cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and I strongly encourage you to look into it.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Clarity program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
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